How to improve the results for students of an international diploma?
- i. Description
- The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) organized a high-level diploma aimed at Latin American government officials, but following the first exam it became clear that many students were not taking full advantage of it: many of them didn’t want to make use of the simultaneous interpreting so as not to reveal to their colleagues, supervisors and subordinates that they needed it.
- ii. Challenges
- 1. Ensure an accurate and detailed understanding and retention of the course themes.
- 2. Increase deep comprehension skills of students and their ability to retain what they have learned.
- 3. Identify a mechanism so that students who lack a high level of English don’t feel embarrassed in front of their colleagues.
- iii. Solution
- 1. CM Idiomas provided high-quality simultaneous interpreting by language personnel specializing in the subject area.
- 2. The sound in the room was turned off (silent seminar) so that all participants were obliged to listen to the lectures through headphones, with no one able to tell whether they were hearing the original or the translation.
- iv. Results
- The students made notable improvements in their grades, thanks to being able to listen to the classes in the language of their choice, without feeling embarrassed in front of their colleagues.
- People often fail to take full advantage of the knowledge available in a language that is not their mother tongue, even when they are able to understand it. Moreover, retention and assimilation of information tend to be lower in a second language in comparison to the mother tongue.
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